Fishers stymied by lengthy ban

With a 65-day government-imposed fishing ban being in action, almost half of Chattogram's fishermen, mostly the unregistered ones, have been pushed towards a serious financial crunch.

The ban was imposed on May 19 to conserve marine fish and will continue till July 23.

As these unregistered fishers are not entitled to any government subsidies or aids, many among them have already opted for different professions due to having very little or no income during such bans.

"I have to feed a family of six, including my aged parents. I cannot afford to be unemployed," said Sunil Jaladas, an unregistered fisherman who has been pulling rickshaw to survive since the ban was imposed.

Many others have decided to switch to industrial work or take up the job of municipality cleaners.

Even registered fishers are seen walking away from this profession as they claim the government aids to be "insufficient" to maintain a family.

Ramakanta Das, a registered fisherman, received 56kg of rice from the government on May 25 along with an assurance from the district's fisheries office that he would receive another 30kg the following month.

My family of ten needs about four-kg rice every day while the allotted rice only ensures that we have 1.32kg for each day. Besides, we also need to buy groceries which include vegetables and proteins. I have no other option but to leave my profession.

— RAMAKANTA DAS a registered fisherman

photo: rajib raihan

"My family of ten needs about four-kg rice every day while the allotted rice only ensures that we have 1.32kg for each day. Besides, we also need to buy groceries which include vegetables and proteins. I have no other option but to leave my profession," he said.

Chattogram is home to around 50,000 fishermen, with only near half of them being registered, mentioned Subal Chandra Das, president of Chattogram Mohanagari Sanatani Motsyojibi Oikya Parishad.

"The unregistered ones are left unemployed with no aid which makes them more vulnerable during bans. Thus, they choose to work at ice factories or construction sites instead, apart from taking up rickshaw pulling. Alongside reconsidering the aid package, the authorities should also work to register all the fishers if they wish to keep this line of work alive among locals," he shared.

The fishers were registered under a project initiated by the Department of Fisheries between 2012 and 2017. The list is updated annually between the months of July and December, informed Faruk Hossain Sagar, assistant director, Department of Marine Fisheries, Chattogram.

photo: rajib raihan

"A total of 27,300 registered fishermen receive aid during such bans. We have been collecting the information of the unregistered ones from different upazilas and will soon send them to the Department of Fisheries in Dhaka," said Bikram Jeet Roy, assistant director of Chattogram District Fisheries Office.